2008.06.24: June 24, 2008: Headlines: COS - Botswana: AIDS: Republic of Botswana,: Speaking at the US Peace Corps swearing in-ceremony in Molepolole last week National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA) coordinator Mr Chris Molomo said Botswana and the United States are working together to win the battle against the virus

Speaking at the US Peace Corps swearing in-ceremony in Molepolole last week National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA) coordinator Mr Chris Molomo said Botswana and the United States are working together to win the battle against the virus

He said since Peace Corps joined the war against the virus, there has been success in a some areas including treatment and prevention, in particular prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV.

MOLEPOLOLE - The National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA) coordinator Mr Chris Molomo has indicated that the present and future challenge to Botswana remains HIV/AIDS, which has severely hit the economy of the country.

Speaking at the US Peace Corps swearing in-ceremony in Molepolole last week the coordinator said Botswana and the United States are working together to win the battle against the virus.

In total, 54 volunteers were sworn in before the former President Festus Gontebanye Mogae and various permanent secretaries.

Mr Molomo stated that they expected Peace Corps to play their role and further noted that they have confidence that Peace Corps will diligently discharge their duties in assisting the nation against these challenges.

He said since Peace Corps joined the war against the virus, there has been success in a some areas including treatment and prevention, in particular prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV.

Mr Molomo said the partnership will grow from strength to strength to create a legacy that future generations can build upon for continued survival.

The Peace Corps director, Mrs Peggy McClure thanked the families in Molepolole who have provided homes for the trainees who are a long way from friends and families.

She said many trainees have characterised the experience of living among families as the most important aspect of training because they practice Setswana culture.

The director said volunteers came as engineers to help lay out the infrastructure and came as hydrologists to help site boreholes that bring water, as health workers and advisors to government ministries.

One of the reasons Botswana is a successful democracy is because of the statutes and rules early volunteers helped draft as volunteers came as teachers, she said.

She said the HIV epidemic which threatens to undermine the progress of this country has made over 40 years of hard work and good will on the part of their predecessors and of the remarkable people who may finally have rested.

Mrs McClure noted that their task is to ensure the rate of new infections decreases faster as it happened with smallpox.

Your task is to help create a generation of Batswana who will have to go to their parents and ask, what was this AIDS? What was that all about? she said. BOPA

Dodd vows to filibuster Surveillance ActSenator Chris Dodd vowed to filibuster the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that would grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that helped this administration violate the civil liberties of Americans. "It is time to say: No more. No more trampling on our Constitution. No more excusing those who violate the rule of law. These are fundamental, basic, eternal principles. They have been around, some of them, for as long as the Magna Carta. They are enduring. What they are not is temporary. And what we do not do in a time where our country is at risk is abandon them."

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Story Source: Republic of Botswana,

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Botswana; AIDS

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